Security Crack Down

I am sorry for ending the week with such a down beat blog post and such a along one, but this is really important for all, not just Baringa.

For those at the Baringa shed you would have witnessed first hand today how serious the security crack down is in this shed right now. However, this is a great time to touch base with both Baringa and Gympie sheds about security.

There is current one or more drivers in the Baringa shed stealing customers parcels, in particular, phones. They do not know who that driver is but they don't believe it is someone from our end of the shed. However, Just because we aren't being targeted directly, it will be very easy for someone to get caught up in something and lose their security clearance if they do anything wrong.

This is no joke, a driver was let go at the other end of the shed this morning as some of you may have heard. This was not for stealing, but they were caught doing something else because Australia Post security was looking at everyone and everything they do.

Signing for parcels is a big one right now. Each Australia Post parcel we deliver has two customers attached to it, the first is the customer we don't see, the customer who is paying Australia Post for the parcel to be sent. This customer pays to get the parcel to the second customer, the customer we see and deliver the parcel to.

Before you think it, I agree, when getting a signature from a customer there is countless reasons why we can't do it sometimes. I am not going to argue that. However, it is far simpler for me to deal with a complaint from Australia Post about why we carded a customer because they couldn't sign for a parcel then it is to deal with a complaint of a parcel being stolen and the customer saying that the signature provided is not theirs. So please, get the customer to sign and make the right name is put in the scanner.

If, for a very good reason the customer can't sign for the parcel and you have a secure place the customer has told you to leave the parcel, then please do so, but please put your name in the scanner and sign for it. If you decide to go down this path you need to have a very good reason and please use the comments section, the photo option and even the signature pad to give as much context to the situation as possible. Now I am talking about a customer is busy breast feeding a child in the lounge room and yells this to you and asks you to leave the parcel at the door. This is the kind of extreme reasons I am talking about.

If I customer makes a scene about it, you have two options I approve for you. The first is just be honest, let them know that your job is on the line if you leave it without a signature or you sign the scanner for them. Most people should take that as a good enough excuse for them to take the extra step and sign or go to the Post Office to collect their parcel. Secondly, if the customer is still causing a scene and want listen and refuses to sign, card them, but just walk away and don't physically leave a card. Then fill out an incident report to let me know.

Yes this might take a little longer sometimes, it might mean we start carding more parcels, but if we follow these rules, it is better then me having to replace a driver Australia Post has removed the security clearance for. Just remember, if you sign for a parcel under someone else's name, it is fraud and Australia Post will push for charges.